Training of Survey Statisticians in Government Agencies--A Review

• Activity Number: 187
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: International Association of Survey Statisticians
• Author(s): Lars Lyberg*+
• Affiliation(s): Statistics Sweden
• Keywords: survey training programs ; survey work ; improving staff skills

Abstract

Survey statistician has different meanings in different cultures. Basically, there are different types of survey workers, and some of the notions are survey methodologist, survey researcher, mathematical statistician, government statistician, and behavioural scientist. The survey workers have different roles and responsibilities. An important common feature is that universities seldom provide specific training of survey workers, although there are some notable exceptions. Instead, government statistical agencies and other producers of statistics have to devote considerable effort turning employees into skilled survey workers.

Agencies develop their staff skills in various ways. Some actually have the opportunity to use course programs and training facilities provided by academic institutions. Others develop their own training programs consisting of both formal courses and on-the-job training. The paper will summarize needs, approaches, and contents of training programs used by a sample of government statistical agencies around the world. The needs vary due to users, type of organization and cultural differences. The approaches vary due to resources available and practical consideration.